


Interview Anxiety

by Phisobi



Series: Prompt Oneshots [3]
Category: Original Work, The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, G/T, GT, Giant/Tiny, Prompt Fic, Size Difference, TINY - Freeform, Tumblr Prompt, aaron is a good pep talker, borrower au, giant, nobody has last names because im lazy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26099740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phisobi/pseuds/Phisobi
Summary: Oneshot prompt request: #16: “You’re so big and brave-” “You think I’m brave?”Ellie struggles with the stress of making phone calls and being on camera. So when she has to do an online interview that essentially includes both of those, she panics.Luckily, there's a small helping hand being offered to her.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: Prompt Oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868347
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Interview Anxiety

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaa i know this probably isnt how the prompt was supposed to be interpreted, but when i first read it i heard it in an incredulous tone, so that's what i went with!
> 
> I also made the mistake of writing half of this late at night, so im sorry about the quality lmaoo

_Step_

_step_

_step_

Aaron sighed, running his fingers down his face. All morning the floorboards have been groaning under the weight of the human above, who seemed to be pacing around nonstop. The first hour of it had been bearable, but after the second his ears were starting to twitch. Did this girl not know the meaning of sitting still?

_Step_

_step_

_step_

He groaned aloud and put his hands over his ears, but even that didn't stop the noise. Eventually he decided that he didn't care about remaining hidden anymore, he had to go see what was making her lose her mind! If only to stop the incessant racket.

As a borrower, it was forbidden to come into contact with a human. Self preservation was a huge priority amongst them as a species, going through any lengths necessary to remain out of sight. And it had been easy for him to do, living in the house of a single human who was often out at work for the majority of the day. That is, until something called a 'quarantine' hit. 

The human was home for every waking minute of the day now, leaving maybe once a week for groceries. The insane schedule shift had taken Aaron by surprise, and ended up getting him caught by her red-handed, running across the counter with a berry in hand. Their first encounter hadn't been awful, as she hadn't even touched him, but the sheer size difference between the two was enough to put him on edge.

The only reason he hadn't left yet was that they both promised to leave each other alone. The human (Ellie, if he remembered correctly) wanted to respect the rules he lived by, and has stuck to her word so far of leaving him be. However, the extra abundance of snacks left on the counters didn't go unnoticed, or unappreciated.

But as much as he was afraid, he was curious. She seemed like a nice person, so if something was troubling her so deeply, it might be serious. 

Aaron climbed through the familiar corridors of the inner walls, muttering to himself under his breath the whole way to the living room exit. He had no idea why he was doing this other than blatant curiosity, and didn't even know how he was going to help if there _was_ a problem- He was 4 inches tall! But before he could turn around, he found himself just behind the exit of the living room wall. 

For a split second he hesitated, wondering if he turned back around now if she would stop and the sound would fade. For a moment the house was quiet, sweet blissful silence--

_Step_

_step_

_step_

The constant creak would drive him insane if he didn't do something _now._ With a huff of confidence he exited the walls beneath the living room window, pushing aside the curtain to trek across the carpet.

A pang of fear rose in his chest at being so out in the open in the bright of daylight, and he had to remind himself that Ellie was friendly, and not like all of those human horror stories he'd heard when he was a kid. She wouldn't trap him, wouldn't eat him, wouldn't touch him. They'd worked all that out during their first encounter.

He was well hidden behind the leg of the coffee table, but still flinched when the human came into sight, emerging from the hallway with a concentrated look on her face. With not even a glance in his direction she took an abrupt right towards the kitchen, and Aaron let out the breath he was holding. Whatever she was doing, she seemed to be on a mission.

However the footsteps only continued, until they looped back into the beginning of the hallway again. In a matter of seconds the human reappeared in the living room, before taking another right into the kitchen. 

Aaron couldn't believe it. _That's_ what she's been doing this whole time? Just… pacing?! What the hell could have her so worked up? At this rate, she'll burn a track into the floorboards!

At least she seemed to be following the same route around the house, which gave him enough time to climb the leg of the coffee table unseen. Actually, even if she _was_ in the room at the same time as him, Aaron doubted that he'd be spotted with how distracted she seemed to be. Knowing this only put more confidence into his actions, until he had climbed the way to the top of the table and walked near the edge. 

The thunderous footsteps were growing closer again, and he braced himself for her to reappear in front of him. This would be the first time he's willingly shown himself, but he figured it was for a good reason. Not like he was getting any sleep under the floor with this _stampede_ going on up here.

On cue Ellie reappeared in the hall, travelling it's length before reentering the living room. Just as she was about to take yet another right into the kitchen, Aaron spoke up.

" _HEY_ ," he yelled, unable to think of anything better to say. Which was fine, as his shout seemed to break her stupor.

The unexpected word in the air made Ellie gasp and jump almost a foot off the ground, frantically looking around for the source of it. She knew that voice… but just didn't think that she'd ever hear it again. There wasn't much furniture in her living room so in a matter of seconds her gaze had landed on the old wooden coffee table, and the small figure posed on the end of it.

She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't find the words, stunned into silence. Why was Aaron back? He'd sworn to her that he would leave unless they left each other alone, so why was he here now, yelling at her? A thousand questions danced around her already racing mind, but before she could voice any of them the borrower spoke up once more.

"What's got you so worked up?" He asked, trying to hide the genuine worry in his voice. Out of all his years of spying he's never seen the human act like this before, and it was a little concerning. 

Ellie blanked. How would _he_ know that she's been worked up..? And that's when the realization struck, that he could hear her every move through the walls. Every nervous loop that she'd made around the kitchen. Her face twisted into a look of shocked horror. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, this is probably so annoying," She began to ramble. "I kind of forgot you were here, I didn't mean to disturb you, I--" 

Aaron cut her frantic apologizing off with a wave of his hand. "It's fine," he lied as if the floor hadn't been grating his eardrums all morning. "But you didn't tell me what's up. And now I'm curious." 

Ellie sighed, letting her shoulders droop down. "It's nothing exciting," she said, a little ashamed of her actions. "I'm just really nervous. I have bad anxiety when it comes to important phone calls, and this is a _whole interview_ and I just know I'm going to mess it up somehow." 

It was then that the borrower really looked at her, noticing that she was dressed a lot fancier than usual. Her normally-messy hair was done neatly up in a bun, and she had actually taken the time to put makeup on. Something he'd only seen her do on special occasions.

But she hadn't left the house for any reason whatsoever for a while now.. but if she was doing this 'interview' then did that mean she would be going back to work regularly? Aaron's face perked up a little bit at the thoughts of him having a chance to go out again with a routine. He _had_ to convince her that she could do it. His normal borrowing life depended on it.

"Aw c'mon don't be like that- you got this!" He gave an award-winning smile, "You're so big and brave---"

"You think **_I’m_ ** brave?” Ellie protested. "Look at you! you live in the _walls_ and venture out into places meant for beings a thousand times your size! _That's_ bravery!" 

"W-well--" Aaron stammered, his face burning up. He wasn't good at being put on the spot. "I _saw_ you save that spider the other day, that was pretty brave." He retorted. Even though her definition of 'saving it' was just not killing it and putting it outside, he knew that she was extremely afraid of spiders. Which was something they could agree on.

Ellie huffed and rolled her eyes. "That was one time! And a spider is way different than my _boss_ who may or may not like me." She whined. 

Aaron sighed, and collected his thoughts for a moment. He's heard Ellie always be there for her friends when they call her, smelled the incredible cookies she'd made for her class, and seen her paintings of the most soul-touching illustrations. She was honestly an amazing person in his books, which isn't a title many people in his life hold.

"Well, being an open and honest person takes bravery too, y'know. You're an amazing person, Ellie. I don't know why you get so down on yourself but you don't deserve it." He said honestly, fidgeting with the end of his hoodie sleeve.

Ellie's eyes began to water. "Really?" She asked, voice shaking slightly. "But you don't even know me!"

At that, Aaron laughed. "Look the walls aren't _that_ thick- I know.... a _lot_ ." He smiled sheepishly. "Enough to know that you're a good person. I mean, literally any other human would probably have captured me by now and done _who knows what_ , but here you are just having a conversation with me….." 

He paused for a brief moment, hung up on his last words. Actually _talking_ to someone other than the bugs and the dirt felt so good, even if it was with a human of all things. It was still chatting, which was something he loved to do.

"Aww," Ellie's expression wilted a little, but her smile grew. "You're so sweet, you know that?" She beamed. "But I hope you also know I'd never hurt you."

"I know. Because you have a good heart." He replied with a grin, shooting her a thumbs up. "And you're talking to me just fine, so I think you can nail this interview perfectly!" 

Ellie let out a long sigh, giving the borrower a soft smile. "I guess my people skills aren't _that_ bad." She let out a sigh. "I just tend to over-worry a lot and overwhelm myself."

"Well... don't." Aaron suggested.

"Wow, thanks, I'm cured!" Ellie laughed. If she had a dollar for every time someone had told her to just 'not worry about it', she'd be filthy rich. But, for some reason, it didn't bother her when Aaron said it, unlike the others. 

"But seriously," She continued, her soft smile returning. "You're one hell of a pep-talker bud. Thank you."

"Hey it's no problem," Aaron smiled back, happy to have gotten a boost of confidence out of her, and even a laugh as well. She seemed to have calmed down, and he could consider his mission a success seeing as she won't be pacing around everywhere anymore.

Ellie suddenly glanced down at her watch, and her eyes grew wide. How had _that_ much time passed already? If she didn't make a move now, she wouldn't be ready in time for the interview! 

"I-- I've gotta go," She stammered, hating to cut things short. "Well not really, I'll just be on my laptop in the other room, but you know what I mean. "Thanks again Aaron, you're a great friend."

The borrower was stunned at the speed of it all, but his heart skipped a beat at her last words. She thought of him as a _friend_ ? He hadn't even considered that.. but wait- did she say laptop? Did that mean she _still_ wasn't leaving the house?! 

Sure enough, Ellie turned on her heels and quickly marched to her room, with an extra bounce of confidence in each step. He groaned in frustration, realizing that things weren't actually returning to the way they used to be. But, when he thought about it, it honestly wasn't much better than it was now. It was lonely, and fearful, and silent. 

And, when he thought about it even more, being _friends_ with Ellie didn't seem all too bad… Maybe her staying home a bit longer couldn't hurt.

Especially if they get to talk again.


End file.
